Collectible display device

Abstract

Collectible display devices and methods for operating the same are provided. The collectible display device has a display; a non-volatile memory adapted to store at least one set of pre-determined character information depicting a character, said character information including character data and character image content; a communication circuit adapted to receive predetermined character information; and a display controller adapted to receive pre-determined character information from the communication circuit, to store the received pre-determined character information in the non-volatile memory so that changes cannot be made to the pre-determined character information without external authorization and to cause the display to present at least one image based upon the character information.

1 . A collectible display device comprising: 
 a) a display;    b) a non-volatile memory adapted to store at least one set of pre-determined character information depicting a character, said character information including character data and character image content;    c) a communication circuit adapted to receive predetermined character information; and    d) a display controller adapted to receive pre-determined character information from the communication circuit, to store the received pre-determined character information in the non-volatile memory so that changes cannot be made to the pre-determined character information without external authorization and to cause the display to present at least one image based upon the character information.    
   
   
       2 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the character image content includes at least one group of an image, a sequence of images, or a stream of image sequences.  
   
   
       3 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the image content depicting the character includes image content depicting sporting events.  
   
   
       4 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit comprises a transducer for exchanging data using a wireless communication path.  
   
   
       5 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit is adapted for communication by way of a physical communication path.  
   
   
       6 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit is adapted to use a removable memory to exchange data with the other collectible display.  
   
   
       7 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , further comprising a user input system and wherein display instructions and content display selection or exchange are entered using the user input system.  
   
   
       8 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit is adapted to communicate with said other display device using network interaction.  
   
   
       9 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the communication circuit is further adapted to exchange interaction data with another collectible device and wherein the display controller is further adapted to use the interaction data to determine image content for presentation on the display.  
   
   
       10 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the character information includes at least one of character identification, character attributes, and character accomplishments.  
   
   
       11 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , further comprising a user input system having a transducer for converting a user input action into a signal that can be used by the display controller to determine personalization information.  
   
   
       12 . The collectible display device of  claim 11 , wherein at least some of the predetermined character information is personalized in accordance with the personalization data.  
   
   
       13 . The collectible display device of  claim 12 , wherein the display controller is further adapted to cause the display to present questions relevant to a character and wherein answers to the questions are used to determine personalization data.  
   
   
       14 . The collectible display device of  claim 11 , wherein the personalization data is used to identify the owner of the collectible display device.  
   
   
       15 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a flexible display.  
   
   
       16 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is the approximate size of a playing card.  
   
   
       17 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a flat-panel display.  
   
   
       18 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein any of the non-volatile memory, the display controller, and the communication circuit are mounted on the display.  
   
   
       19 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is an OLED display.  
   
   
       20 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the image content is at least one of a motion image sequence, a still image, a group of still images and a stream of image information.  
   
   
       21 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , further comprising an audio system to generate audio signals based upon audio content stored in the non-volatile memory and display controller.  
   
   
       22 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the character information further comprises audio content and wherein the display further comprises an audio system adapted to generate sounds based upon the audio content received by the display device.  
   
   
       23 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a passive-matrix display.  
   
   
       24 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a reflective display.  
   
   
       25 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a non-volatile display.  
   
   
       26 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display is a color display.  
   
   
       27 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display controller is a non-programmable state machine.  
   
   
       28 . The collectible display device of  claim 1 , wherein the display controller comprises a non-programmable logic circuit.  
   
   
       29 . A collectible display system comprising: 
 a plurality of collectible display devices each collectible display device having at least:    a display capable of forming images; and    a non-volatile memory having predetermined character data stored therein;    at least one source of character image content;    at least one source of character data;    a communication circuit adapted to exchange data between the plurality of collectible display devices; and    a display controller adapted to use the predetermined character data to determine character data for each of the plurality of collectible display devices, to select character image content from the source of character image content for presentation on each collectible display device based upon the character data determined for that collectible display device and to cause the character image content selected for each collectible display device to be presented on the display associated with that collectible display device,    wherein the display controller further causes the character data determined for each collectible display device to be stored in the non-volatile memory for that device so that changes cannot be made to the determined character data without external authorization.    
   
   
       30 . The display system of  claim 29 , wherein the communication circuit and display controller are located in an interface module that is separate from the display devices.  
   
   
       32 . The display system of  claim 30 , wherein the interface module comprises at least one of a personal computer, a video game console, a hand held computing device, a telephone system, an internet appliance and a device adapted to generate signals that are viewable on video monitor.  
   
   
       33 . The display system of  claim 30 , wherein the display is a bi-stable display and wherein the display controller comprises a display driver for causing an image to be formed on the bi-stable display.  
   
   
       34 . The display system of  claim 30  wherein the non-volatile memory comprises at least in part a non-volatile display, and wherein the determined image content is stored on the non-volatile display.  
   
   
       35 . The display system of  claim 29 , wherein each display device has interaction data stored therein and wherein the display controller is adapted to select images from the source of images based upon the interaction data.  
   
   
       36 . The display system of  claim 29 , wherein each collectible display device has interaction data stored therein and with the display controller being adapted to adjust the interaction data during an interaction between the collectible display devices, and to determine character information based upon the adjusted interaction data.  
   
   
       37 . The collectible display system of  claim 32 , wherein the communication circuit exchanges data between the collectible display devices and the display controller via a communication through a computer network.  
   
   
       38 . The collectible display system of  claim 29 , wherein the character data and character image are stored within the collectible display devices at manufacture.  
   
   
       39 . The collectible display system of claim  31 , wherein the character associated with each collectible display device is selected by a purchaser.  
   
   
       40 . The collectible display system of  claim 29 , wherein a kiosk vends collectible display devices having different characters selected by a purchaser.  
   
   
       41 . The collectible display system of  claim 40 , wherein the kiosk vends collectible display devices having different prices based upon the character information associated with the collectible display device.  
   
   
       42 . The collectible display system of  claim 36 , wherein the kiosk provides collectible display devices with characters having at least one of character image, character attributes, and personalization data determined at least in part based upon a price paid for the collectible display devices.  
   
   
       43 . The collectible display system of  claim 29 , wherein the collectible display devices take a form factor that approximates conventional tradable cards.  
   
   
       44 . The collectible display system of  claim 29 , wherein each collectible display device has a user interface to receive personalization data and wherein the display controller determines at least one of the character data, interaction data and character image based upon the received personalization data.  
   
   
       45 . A collectible display device comprising: 
 a) a display;    b) a non-volatile memory having pre-determined character information stored therein with the predetermined character information including character data and at least one character image;    c) a communication circuit adapted to receive additional character information; and    d) a display controller adapted to receive character data and image content from the communication circuit and to cause the display to present the character data;    e) wherein the display controller is further adapted to store additional received character information in the non-volatile memory so that changes cannot be made to the character information without authorization.    
   
   
       46 . The collectible display device of  claim 45 , wherein the non-volatile memory comprises a locking memory portion that can store the character information so that character information can only be added to the non-volatile memory when an appropriate authorization code is provided and wherein the display controller uses the authorization code to change character data and image content.  
   
   
       47 . The collectible display device of  claim 45 , wherein the display controller is further adapted to store data in an encrypted form in a preferred form in the non-volatile memory and to present only data and image content that has been encrypted in the preferred form.  
   
   
       48 . The collectible display device of  claim 45 , wherein the non-volatile memory is a write once memory such that character information be added to the non-volatile memory but such character data and image content cannot be removed from the non-volatile memory without authorization.  
   
   
       49 . The collectible display device of  claim 45 , wherein communication circuit is adapted to exchange interaction data and the display controller is adapted to use the interaction data in providing the character image content.  
   
   
       50 . The collectible display device of  claim 45 , wherein the communication circuit is adapted to exchange interaction data, wherein the display is a cholesteric display.  
   
   
       51 . A method for operating a collectible display device having predetermined character data and image content stored therein, the method comprising the steps of: 
 detecting a source of character information having character data and character image content;    receiving character information including character data and character image content from the source; and    storing the received character information so that once stored, the received character information cannot be adjusted without external authorization.    
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the detected source of character information comprises another collectible display device having other character information and further comprising the step of detecting user input requesting the collectible display device to exchange the predetermined character information for the other character information stored in the other collectible display device and further comprising the step of performing the exchange only where external authorization is received from the other collectible display device.  
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the collectible display device is adapted to receive separate installments of character information, wherein the source of character information provides more than option of character information for each installment, and wherein the step of receiving the character information comprises selecting one of the options for use with each installment.  
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein each selected character information option is stored so that it cannot be changed without external authorization.  
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein comprising the step of executing an interaction between the collectible display device and another collectible display device.  
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein the success of a character in an interaction determines the interaction data stored in the collectible display device.  
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 56 , wherein the interaction data can be used to obtain additional character information to be received and stored by collectible display device.  
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the source of character information includes group information such as group data and at least one group image, and the source of character data provides the group information to the display device when the display device has acquired character information for each member of the group.